Solo: A Star Wars story soars to $14 million Thursday night preview

Despite a series of production shakeups, Ron Howard's SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY is off to a strong start at the box office with $14.1 million in receipts for its Thursday night preview. The impressive total has the latest chapter of the Star Wars saga setting a new record for a Memorial Day opening - a title previously held by PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END with $13.2 million dollars earned.

As of the moment, the space-fairing adventure has set a course to earn between $130 million and $150 million during its opening weekend. While the film is not expected to surpass other installments of the Star Wars series of films, SOLO does stand a chance of edging out ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, which had earned a total of $155 million during its 4-day opening.

That being said, these are just numbers. While they certainly matter as a part of the long-game, the most important aspect of SOLO is that fans enjoy the movie. So far, word has been quite positive with regard to Han Solo's origin-inspired escapades. Our own Paul Shirey checked out the film last night, saying that "I kind of loved Solo. It’s not exceptionally original or innovative, but it’s a thrilling adventure that leans into the characters and lore more than anything, paying nostalgic homage, while blazing its own trail and opening doors to more stories in this timeline."

Have you seen the film yet? If so, be sure to tell us your thoughts here.